The 2nd Army () was a

field army A field army (or numbered army or simply army) is a military formation in many armed forces, composed of two or more corps and may be subordinate to an army group. Likewise, air armies are equivalent formation within some air forces, and with ...

of the German Army during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

History

1939 and 1940

The 2nd Army headquarters was briefly established in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

from Group Command 1 on 26 August 1939 and at the beginning of the

Invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week aft ...

it was renamed

Army Group North Army Group North (german: Heeresgruppe Nord) was a German strategic formation, commanding a grouping of field armies during World War II. The German Army Group was subordinated to the ''Oberkommando des Heeres'' (OKH), the German army high comman ...

on 2 September. The 2nd Army was reestablished on 20 October 1939, with ''

Generaloberst A ("colonel general") was the second-highest general officer rank in the German ''Reichswehr'' and ''Wehrmacht'', the Austro-Hungarian Common Army, the East German National People's Army and in their respective police services. The rank was ...

'' Maximilian von Weichs in command, by renaming the 8th Army, which had been moved from Poland to the west. It was assigned to the reserve of the ''

Oberkommando des Heeres The (; abbreviated OKH) was the Command (military formation), high command of the German Army (1935–1945), Army of Nazi Germany. It was founded in 1935 as part of Adolf Hitler's German rearmament, rearmament of Germany. OKH was ''de facto'' t ...

'' (OKH). After the beginning of the

Battle of France The Battle of France (french: bataille de France) (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign ('), the French Campaign (german: Frankreichfeldzug, ) and the Fall of France, was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of French Third Rep ...

on 10 May, the army was assigned to

Army Group A Army Group A (Heeresgruppe A) was the name of several German Army Groups during World War II. During the Battle of France, the army group named Army Group A was composed of 45½ divisions, including 7 armored panzer divisions. It was responsibl ...

and marched through Luxembourg, Belgium, and northern France. From 31 May to 4 June it marched to the front north of the Somme,

Aisne Aisne ( , ; ; pcd, Ainne) is a French department in the Hauts-de-France region of northern France. It is named after the river Aisne. In 2019, it had a population of 531,345.Oise Oise ( ; ; pcd, Oése) is a department in the north of France. It is named after the river Oise. Inhabitants of the department are called ''Oisiens'' () or ''Isariens'', after the Latin name for the river, Isara. It had a population of 829,419 ...

and participated in the expansion of bridgeheads. When it entered battle on 9 June on the Aisne, the army included IX ( 295th and 294th Infantry Divisions), XXVI ( 34th and 45th Infantry Divisions), and VI Army Corps ( 205th, 15th, 293rd, and 5th Infantry Divisions). First seeing service in France, the army was involved in the invasion of the Balkans, before offensive operations in

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

as part of

Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named after ...

. In 1942 the 2nd Army covered the northern wing of

Case Blue Case Blue (German: ''Fall Blau'') was the German Armed Forces' plan for the 1942 strategic summer offensive in southern Russia between 28 June and 24 November 1942, during World War II. The objective was to capture the oil fields of the Cauc ...

operating in the surroundings of Voronezh. ''Generaloberst''

Hans von Salmuth Hans Eberhard Kurt Freiherr von Salmuth (11 November 1888 – 1 January 1962) was a German general and war criminal during World War II. Salmuth commanded several armies on the Eastern Front, and the Fifteenth Army in France during the D-Day i ...

became commander on 14 July. It suffered a major defeat during the Voronezh-Kastornensk operation the Soviet winter offensive that followed the

battle of Stalingrad The Battle of Stalingrad (23 August 19422 February 1943) was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II where Nazi Germany and its allies unsuccessfully fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad (later re ...

. ''Generaloberst''

Walter Weiß __NOTOC__ General Walter-Otto Weiß, also spelt Weiss (5 September 1890 – 21 December 1967), was a German general during World War II. In 1945 he became commander in chief of Army Group North on the Eastern Front. He was a recipient of the Kni ...

became commander on 4 February 1943. ''

General der Panzertruppe General der Panzertruppe () was a General of the branch OF8 rank of the German Army, introduced in 1935. A ''General der Panzertruppe'' was a Lieutenant General, above Major General (Generalleutnant), commanding a Panzer corps. Rank and ran ...

Dietrich von Saucken Dietrich Friedrich Eduard Kasimir von Saucken (16 May 1892 – 27 September 1980) was a German general during World War II who commanded the 2nd Army and the Army East Prussia. Turning down an offer to escape by air, he surrendered to the Re ...

became commander of the army on 10 March 1945. The army was renamed Army East Prussia () on 7 April and was pivotal in the defence of East and West Prussia before end of World War II in Europe on 9 May 1945.Beevor, Antony. ''Berlin: The Downfall 1945'', Penguin Books, 2002, , pp.26, 49, 50, 88, 90, 115–116, 119, 402

Commanders

References

Citations

Bibliography